The Old Whim Horse Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABABCDCD EFFFGHGI HJHJKLKL FMFMGNGN COCOKPKPGDGDGQGQ GRGRGSG CTCUCNCN GSGSGHGH GVGVGWGW

He's an old grey horse with his head bowed sadlyA
And with dim old eyes and a queer roll aftB
With the off fore sprung and the hind screwed badlyA
And he bears all over the brands of graftB
And he lifts his head from the grass to wonderC
Why by night and day now the whim is stillD
Why the silence is and the stampers' thunderC
Sounds forth no more from the shattered millD
-
In that whim he worked when the night winds bellowedE
On the riven summit of Giant's HandF
And by day when prodigal Spring had yellowedF
All the wide long sweep of enchanted landF
And he knew his shift and the whistle's warningG
And he knew the calls of the boys belowH
Through the years unbidden at night or morningG
He had taken his stand by the old whim bowI
-
But the whim stands still and the wheeling swallowH
In the silent shaft hangs her home of clayJ
And the lizards flirt and the swift snakes followH
O'er the grass grown brace in the summer dayJ
And the corn springs high in the cracks and cornersK
Of the forge and down where the timber liesL
And the crows are perched like a band of mournersK
On the broken hut on the Hermit's RiseL
-
All the hands have gone for the rich reef paid outF
And the company waits till the calls come inM
But the old grey horse like the claim is played outF
And no market's near for his bones and skinM
So they let him live and they left him grazingG
By the creek and oft in the evening dimN
I have seen him stand on the rises gazingG
At the ruined brace and the rotting whimN
-
The floods rush high in the gully underC
And the lightnings lash at the shrinking treesO
Or the cattle down from the ranges blunderC
As the fires drive by on the summer breezeO
Still the feeble horse at the right hour wandersK
To the lonely ring though the whistle's dumbP
And with hanging head by the bow he pondersK
Where the whim boy's gone why the shifts don't comeP
But there comes a night when he sees lights glowingG
In the roofless huts and the ravaged millD
When he hears again all the stampers goingG
Though the huts are dark and the stampers stillD
When he sees the steam to the black roof clingingG
As its shadows roll on the silver sandsQ
And he knows the voice of his driver singingG
And the knocker's clang where the braceman standsQ
-
See the old horse take like a creature dreamingG
On the ring once more his accustomed placeR
But the moonbeams full on the ruins streamingG
Show the scattered timbers and grass grown braceR
Yet he hears the sled in the smithy fallingG
And the empty truck as it rattles backS
And the boy who stands by the anvil callingG
And he turns and backs and he 'takes up slack '-
-
While the old drum creaks and the shadows shiverC
As the wind sweeps by and the hut doors closeT
And the bats dip down in the shaft or quiverC
In the ghostly light round the grey horse goesU
And he feels the strain on his untouched shoulderC
Hears again the voice that was dear to himN
Sees the form he knew and his heart grows bolderC
As he works his shift by the broken whimN
-
He hears in the sluices the water rushingG
As the buckets drain and the doors fall backS
When the early dawn in the east is blushingG
He is limping still round the old old trackS
Now he pricks his ears with a neigh replyingG
To a call unspoken with eyes aglowH
And he sways and sinks in the circle dyingG
From the ring no more will the grey horse goH
-
In a gully green where a dam lies gleamingG
And the bush creeps back on a worked out claimV
And the sleepy crows in the sun sit dreamingG
On the timbers grey and a charred hut frameV
Where the legs slant down and the hare is squattingG
In the high rank grass by the dried up courseW
Nigh a shattered drum and a king post rottingG
Are the bleaching bones of the old grey horseW

Edward Dyson



Rate:
(1)



Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme

Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation


Write your comment about The Old Whim Horse poem by Edward Dyson


 

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 9 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Popular Poets